Web Isshuukan 10th Anniversary Long Interview [Part One]

[Part One] w-inds. appearing for five consecutive weeks! Talking all night long about their 10th anniversary, the long interview!

----- First off, I wonder if we can hear about the tenth anniversary live at Budoukan. Budoukan is a place where w-inds. has done numerous lives, so the venue must feel somewhat like home to them. What's it like if you look back upon the short time that has passed since that concert?

Keita: We were nervous, weren't we?

Ryohei: Super nervous! It was crazy! Before we came out in the opening, thinking of two tracks with my solo, the tension peaked! There was some wickedly tense [feeling] before my solos.

Ryuichi: You serious?



Keita: I was super nervous, too. Truth is, I started from a story about wondering what to do for this tenth anniversary event, so it wasn't really about performing at the Budoukan. But with this discussion, we were able to do so many things. We performed live at the Budoukan, reflected on a lot of things, and things became gradually tense.

Ryuichi: I was okay. I was relaxed. Maybe I was able to achieve a[n internal] balance. But of course, when us three were [all ready] with everyone else, it was a bit tense. For me, after that and recently, more than the mental nerves, I feel like I want to try, to the max, the things I can do with a calm self. In order to realize that, I sensed that I had to relax and act as if I didn't want this anxious mentality. But I mean, I was still nervous, huh. Or rather, maybe I still haven't been able to deliver the performance I've wanted to do... I thought, "Maybe I'm still far away from this reverse [of emotions]."

----- Speaking of your anniversary concert, did you find any challenges?


Ryuichi: Yes. But there always are. When we get up on stage it's always nerve-wracking, and when it ends we're always thinking about the next step.

----- Having the first song as "Let's get it on" wasn't unexpected, but did you have any intentions with the first song track?

Keita: With our image, from our modern w-inds. we wanted to bring back [tbe old w-inds.]. It wasn't that we wanted to start from our old songs, but rather we felt we had to boldly bring back the future. From there, a super flashy opening, the coolest entrance.... was what we thought when we did "Let's get it on."

----- And did everyone have a consistent opinion about that?

Ryohei: Well... we got on the same page relatively quickly.

Ryuichi: Fact is, we were able to do it quite extravagantly, I think!

----- Besides, this time your stage rounded 360 degrees. Even when you were singing, even when you were dancing, even from behind, your audience could always see you. It was that kind of a condition, but how was it?

Keita: It really was a special live with many more audience members, and it was a different kind of  performance, so we decided on the round stage. It was kind of a mysterious feeling. We'd done many lives up to now, but we felt this one was a bit different.

Ryohei: (Behind the scenes,) it's not about always feeling peoples' eyes on you, but... (laughs) But knowing everyone can probably see you makes all sorts of nerves, so it was difficult.

----- They could see your singing shape and see you dancing from behind... You've never done that before and, unintentionally, many people were watching you from behind.

Keita: Haha! (laughs) Even us, nothing was quite confirmed about our backsides. Even with a mirror, we can't see.

----- Anyways, is there something you always eat before a concert?

Ryuichi: Recently for me is Calorie Mate!  I'm kind of starting to take it this year, you know~.

Keita: What do you think about it? I'll try Calorie Mate.

Ryuichi: Yeah, it's amazing!

Keita: Really?!

Ryuichi: When you have something that feels like it would jinx you, you might [want to] have something that makes you mentally stronger. And before, I used to get hungry during the concerts, but now that might gone.

----- So you do have something when you get hungry during concerts, after all!

Ryuichi: There's catering services, but the scheduling of our meals gets lost, and in these incomplete time [schedules], your stomach is going to start to hurt. And with missing your meals, you get hungry. And anyways, that's why Calorie Mate is good, even when mountain-climbing!

----- Ryuichi-kun, you do mountain-climb, huh.

Ryuichi: Calorie Mate is light, high in nutrition, and is good for my tummy!

----- This kind of seems like a commercial (laughs).

Keita and Ryohei: Haha! (laughs)

Keita: Okay, let's buy it! (laughs)

Ryuichi: Next are vitamin supplements!

Keita: Oh yeah! You take them, don't you, Ryuichi.

----- Do you always carry them with you?

Ryuichi: Yes, I do.

Ryohei: Me, I don't really eat much the day of the concert. I have something in the morning and an early lunch before rehearsals, but after that I don't eat. But there are rare occasions where I miss [a meal]. I'm just setting myself up for a fail (laughs)!

Ryuichi: There are those days.

Ryohei: Before this, when we had an event, our whole production finished eating in 30 - 40 minutes. Really, you go backstage and everyone is done! It's all about timing, when I went saying, "Aw, my stomach hurts!" (laughs). And I was thinking, "Now, of all times?!" For the time being, I just went back on stage.

Keita: That's a relief. (It was an event, so) our set list was shorter.

Ryohei: Yeah, there were three songs left!

----- When there are ten songs left, you're in a bit of a pinch, huh?

Ryohei: Isn't that so. And when you start imagining things, it gets a bit scary (laughs).

Keita: For me, recently, there really hasn't been anything that I always eat...huh.

Ryuichi: That's true. For Keita, there was something before, though. At the peak of your training, you always had rice and protein supplements. But now there isn't anything, huh.

Keita: Yeah. Not at all, right. I'm not realy thinking of anything, huh~ (laughs). Oh, but I am [thinking about] going to take a shower, though.

Ryohei: Yeah.

Ryuichi: That's just recently.

Keita: When I get hot and replenish my parched throat, it's kind of refreshing.

----- We were thinking, what with your tenth year, that you've done a lot of concerts.

Ryuichi: We're done 400 concerts!

----- 400!? That's amazing!

Ryohei: It is amazing, isn't it.

----- In those concerts throughout your 10 years, is there one happening that you remember in particular?

Ryuichi: The day before a concert, at a French cuisine place I ate pigeon food, and on the day of th elive my stomach's condition was... it was terrible. (grimaces) I vowed never to eat it again!

Keita: I've been saying this for a while, but during our first live tour, I was dancing and my shoes came off. I was thinking, "Aaah! My shoes! They came off!" but it was near the end of the song and I thought I just wouldn't dance. So then when the dance stage was dimly lit, at the moment the dancers left the stage, someone threw my lost shoes right at me. And it landed just by my feet! "Whoa! How pro!" I thought, and then put on my shoes (laughs).

Ryohei: That's cool!

Keita: It was a nice assist, huh! Aside from that, there are many times where the microphone dropped.

Ryuichi: That happened last year at the Budoukan, didn't it. The moment we did New World!

Keita: The mic went (bang!) ♪ Donnani~ Just like that (laughs).

Ryohei: But wasn't the craziest one with me? There was the time when the mic went flying.

Keita: I actually didn't see that.

Ryohei: Really?! At the third concert live, when we were doing "Super Lover," my hand hit the mic. And then it flew, and fell under the stage! I was just thinking, "Aaaaah!"

Keita: Darn, I missed that!

Ryohei It fell between the audience seats, and because it was dark I couldn't even see it. The staff also looked hard for it, but it quickly went missing. So I did the next song without a mic. They soon brought a new mic, but that time called for such composure! Ryuichi, you noticed, right?

Ryuichi: Yeah. There was cold sweat where I was, too. I wanted to pass you my mic, but I knew I couldn't do that (laughs).

Ryohei: Haha (laughs).

Keita: Well, what about pass my mic over?

Ryohei: That would have been even worse (laughs).

Everyone: Haha! (laughs)

----- So the mic is the most difficult challenge, huh.

Keita: It really is the number one enemy! There are times we get hit while dancing, but the mic is a bit jagged/rough, so it really hurts!

Ryohei: Even from a short distance, we get hit from someone's microphone, and that hurts!

Keita: In that instance, you're just like, "Augh that annoyance!" (laughs)

Ryuichi [at Keita's impression]: Aaah scarrrrryyyyy~ (laughs)

Everyone: Haha (laughs).

----- Now that you've reached your tenth anniversary, are there any other goals from here on out?

Ryohei: Recently I've thought that we have to give all this energy back to the fans.

Keita: It's our tenth anniversary, after all, so this year we have to work intensively on some special things.

Ryuichi: For as long as possible, I want to keep working. All the way, the desire to give songs, dance, and good-quality music doesn't change. We gradually change [as people], and I want to keep working for as long as possible!

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